Fans are speculating that Lea Michele was the culprit who took racist jibes at Keke Palmer while filming on the Ryan Murphy series Scream Queens. In her memoir, the latter revealed that one of her white cast members, whom she referred to by the pseudonym “Brenda,” compared her to Martin Luther King Jr.
In her book, titled Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative, Keke Palmer alleged that she tried to calm “Brenda” down during a dispute with one of their co-workers. The two worked alongside Ariana Grande, Emma Roberts, Lea Michele, Billie Lourd, and Abigail Breslin on the show from 2015 to 2017.
Palmer told Brenda that everyone should “have fun and respect each other.” However, the latter spewed:
"Keke, literally, just don’t. Who do you think you are? Martin F— Luther King?”
When the news broke out on X, fans quickly pointed out that Keke Palmer follows all her castmates from the show except Lea Michele. Many began positing that Michele was the one who made the comments, given her tumultuous history with other cast members. Here's what one fan said:
"I wouldn’t be surprised if it really was her. Just read what her Glee co-stars said."
The comments began pouring in from everywhere:
"Emma Roberts or Lea Michele are the most likely suspects given their past. Also, not that social media follows mean anything, but Keke follows almost all of her Scream Queens co-stars on Instagram *except* for Lea Michele," one user chimed in.
"It has to be Emma Roberts or Lea Michele," another suggested.
"considering she doesn’t follow Lea Michele it was probably her," yet another claimed.
"why she ain’t say the name?? its not like the person can read it anyway," one user stated, alluding to Lea.
The reactions didn't stop there:
"I read that in Chanel Oberlin’s voice but we all know it was Lea Michele," someone tweeted.
"She's so smart because lea can't read this omg," another joked.
"Initially I thought it was Emma Roberts, but then the internet reminded me that Lea Michele was on Scream Queens too. I’d say Lea Michele first, then maybe Emma Roberts. Wild if it is Emma Roberts bc of her family’s history with MLK and Coretta Scoot King," someone else stated.
"i wonder who (Lea Michele) it was (Lea Michele)," yet another humorously quipped.
However, a fair section of the internet was convinced that this has "Emma Roberts written all over it."
Scores of fellow actors line up to accuse Lea Michele of poor, bratty behavior
In reflecting on the situation with the LA Times this Sunday, Keke Palmer revealed that she didn't name the culprit because she wanted to “take the power out of [Brenda’s] words.”
“It was such a weighted thing that she said, but I didn’t allow that weight to be projected on me, because I know who I am. I’m not no victim. That’s not my storyline, sweetie. I don’t care what her a** said. If I allow what she said to cripple me, then she would.”
In an exclusive interview with Variety in June 2020, fellow Glee actress Samantha Ware criticized Michele for singling her out.
“I knew from day one when I attempted to introduce myself. There was nothing gradual about it. As soon as she decided that she didn’t like me, it was very evident. It was after I did my first performance, that’s when it started – the silent treatment, the stare-downs, the looks, the comments under her breath, the weird passive aggressiveness. It all built up.”
Ware contended that Michele threatened her job in front of several people on set. She claimed that she never reported the incident to the higher-ups because she was unaware that was an option. She went on, noting that Lea's preppy behavior was well-known.
"Lea’s actions were nothing new, so I guess since it was such a common thing, my case didn’t seem like that big of a deal. I remember the first day I actually spoke up and unfortunately no one did anything. They just shrugged it off, like ‘That’s her.’ No one was stopping these things, which is an issue because the environment was helping perpetuate this abuse.”
Notably, that same month, Michele took to social media to tweet her support for George Floyd. She noted that he "did not deserve this" and that it "was not an isolated incident and it must end. #BlackLivesMatter." That's when Ware pounced back. She said, in all-caps:
"Remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?!?! Cause I’ll never forget. I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would ‘s— in my wig!’ amongst other traumatic microaggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood.”
Trending
Samantha Ware's comments against Michele served as the domino to solicit even more contentious allegations. Within no time, former colleagues and fellow actors like Yvette Nicole Brown and Dabier Snell, as well as trans model Plastic Martyr, echoed the claims.
Reply
